[0.4] Cantrip's Pack Tactics! - Wolf Minions

Wolves come from 2 sources in PoE2:
1 - Pounce: Marks an enemy, and when triggered (It dies / Cross Slash), you get 1 Wolf or more. The limit is 8, +2 from tree, so 10. If you're an Oracle, there's another +2 for 12.
2 - Wolfpack: A 60 (base) Spirit Reservation Skill, gives you up to 8 Wolves, scaling with gem level.

Those minions scale DRASTICALLY with gem levels, and rely on you doing so to function. Try to play a minion build without doing that and you'll fail, same is true here.

Pounce has a bunch more tags than Wolfpack, so it's easier to scale all the way to 40, using +2 Melee Gloves and a weapon with up to +7, not even accounting for corruption for +1 Melee Skills (exists on gloves) or other mods like a Bound Mod for Shaman for +1 Attack Skills.

As a result, Pounce ends up doing a whole lot more than Wolfpack, meaning Wolfpack is more about helping round out your clear and providing some defensives layers through a minion army and the Loyalty support. You can choose to not run Wolfpack at all, either, and run an Infernal Legion Wasp for even better clear.

Rage is used in 2 main ways here, added towards later acts:
1 - It gives you 1% Minion Attack Speed & Damage (scaled by Berserk if you have it).
2 - Whenever you gain Rage, Minions in your Presence start regenerating Rage, giving you 30% More Minion Damage when it counts the most.
You generate rage through Shred to keep it up, and Ferocious Roar to instantly refill to max. This comes from your anoint on the amulet, you'll need to get relevant Emotions (Disgust/Fear/Fear = Warlord Berserker).

Lord of the Wilds (Keystone) lets you use a Sceptre as well as a Talisman at once, letting you benefit from further minion levels and modifiers.

Gigantic Following (Notable) makes your wolves Gigantic, as well as costing a bit more for Wolfpack (goes to 80 from 60).

Vile Mending (Notable) gives your Wolves 3% Regen, keeping them alive.

Silent Guardian, Crystalline Flesh, and Jewels, are where you get Minion Resistances, potentially bringing them up all the way to 80. I did all content on 60, but more is better obviously.

Splintering Force (Notable) makes your wolves break Armour nearly instantly (20% increased Phys Damage Taken as well as negating Armour) and is a big deal for waystones, less so before.

You start using Set 2 points towards the end of acts to achieve 100% uptime on Rage and your Lunar Blessing, as noted below.

Leveling with Pounce+Wolfpack is great even in Act 1!
All you need is to get things like a +2 Melee Skills Talisman, +1 Minion Helmet, +1 Minion amulet, etc. Upgrade as you go every 10-20 levels as you notice your DPS dropping off.

Item Level Breakpoints:
Talisman: +2 (IL 2), +3 (IL 18), +4 (IL 36), +5-6 (IL 55), +7 (IL 81)
Sceptre: +1 (IL 2), +2 (IL 25), +3 (IL 55), +4 (IL 78)
Helmet: +1 (IL 5), +2 (IL 41)
Gloves: +1 (IL 5), +2 (IL 41)
Amulet: +1 (IL 5), +2 (IL 41), +3 (IL 71)

As you can see, assuming you start playing with wolves from level 5 or so, you already have enough to get the build going. Whenever you get to Lord of the Wilds (Keystone), you'll add a Sceptre on top of your Talisman, and somewhere around level 41 you'll wanna upgrade tiers on most gear pieces gradually. That's already going to be enough to carry you all the way to red maps, where you'll gradually work yourself up to the highest tiers.

Leveling POB:
Lab 1 (Lich, Necromantic Conduit): https://poe2db.tw/pob/n2GbcLem4p
Lab 2 (Lich, Soulless Form): https://poe2db.tw/pob/qbS6JJ3L7w
Lab 3 (Lich, Jewel): https://poe2db.tw/pob/VanjyHnc8b

You'll also need some Spirit on gear to run Wolfpack before Act 3 and/or Lord of the Wilds. Personally, I only ran Pounce before that, and used Ravenous Swarm for that time.

If you don't have enough enough minion gear as noted, at least for act 1, they might die in boss fights without being to revive - Cross Slash doesn't exist before Gem Level 7, so either have the gear, or rely on "proper" Minions or other leveling tech.

As a general guideline, you take minion damage on the Witch start, then head for Gigantic Following, and then Lord of the Wilds. You add Rage/Warcry interactions after that, as well as Vile Mending at some point to keep minions alive forever.

Lich starts on the Witch start, with amazing access to early Minion points, which makes for very comfy leveling. It's also able to play Energy Shield properly without heading all the way to Chaos Inoculation, saving you a bunch of points, and it's also a ton of free damage and effectively 2 Jewel slots.

Lich also lets you run Berserk with no Life Regen anywhere, which is also possible on other classes with enough regen or even 1 flat regen roll as CI, but Lich has it best.

Other classes that can work:
Oracle - Has another +2 Pounce Wolves on the tree, the ability to cherry-pick points, and very good interactions with unique jewels.
Shaman - Automatic Rage Regen for nice QoL, pretty tanky overall.
Warbringer - The Negative Armour Break works if you go and Pounce the boss twice, letting the minions shred the armour after you hit them once.
Tactician - This one is very very different. You need a GOOD Talisman with levels on top, you'll be sharing some of the DPS with your wolves, and you'll probably be using a War Banner as well, and/or using a Command Skill. Lots more buttons, and lots of potential, but much harder to gear for and start very far from ES points. On trade, I'd say this one is very much an option if you're rich.
Varashta - Somewhat bugged at the time of this post, but does work, I've tested it in acts. You're a bit strained for buttons here as well, which makes Rage generation a problem, but the Djinn are incredible. You're likely to never Shred enemies on this one, either.

Those and more are options, but nothing can truly compare to a Lich when it comes to minions that don't really care about Spirit much.

Pounce is your main DPS skill, it's how you make wolves (and they shouldn't die often, but you can resummon them with this + Cross Slash).

Ideal Links for Pounce (non-Lineage):
Rapid Attack II
Feeding Frenzy II
Minion Mastery
Muster (if you have 2+ types of Reviving Minions, Wolfpack counts as 1, Skeleton Warrior from a Sceptre make 2, Clerics can be 3, etc.)
Bleed 4 / Heft / Cold Penetration

Lineage Options for Pounce:
Uul-Netol's Embrace - The best Lineage gem here. Saves you a ton of points as it break armour and also good DPS.
Dialla's Desire - Another +1 gem level, and also makes the Pounce Mark deal more damage to bosses.
Rakiata's Flow - Inverts Cold Resistance, giving your wolves a hefty DPS boost when it matters the most.

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Wolfpack doubles your army size, helping you clear better, and also taking 10% of incoming damage for you.

Ideal Links for Wolfpack (non-Lineage):
Rapid Attack II
Feeding Frenzy II
Minion Mastery
Loyalty
Muster (if you have 2+ types of Reviving Minions, Wolfpack counts as 1, Skeleton Warrior from a Sceptre make 2, Clerics can be 3, etc.)

Lineage Options for Pounce:
Romira's Requital - A slightly better version of Loyalty, doesn't really matter much for the Lich variant, but better for others.
Amanamu's Tithe - Can be used to buff yourself when they die.

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Ferocious Roar is how you instantly get max rage. It goes on Set 2. You can either keep it at level 9 or level it, the only thing that goes up is the # of Armour Break it Empowers your own Shred with, which isn't a big deal with minions doing it anyhow.

Ideal Links for Ferocious Roar:
Echoing Cry (repeats twice, get more Rage)
Raging Cry (get more Rage)
Enraged Warcry 2 (bypass cooldown)

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Lunar Blessing gives you a good chunk of damage added as Cold, in % based on the minions' Base Damage (meaning, before Unholy Might). It goes on Set 2, and with the Cooldown and Duration you have there, it has a literal 100% uptime once you have it.

Ideal Links for Lunar Blessing:
Prolonged Duration II (100% uptime with the tree)
Cooldown Recovery II (100% uptime with the tree)
Cold Mastery (+1% added as Cold)
Culling Strike II (Culling Strike vs Rares and Uniques).

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Cross Slash is used to trigger the Pounce mark to generate wolves mid-fight. There's absolutely no reason to level it past level 7. The only thing you care about here is that it's fast. It works fine with no links, but might as well add them if you have spare stats...

Ideal Links for Cross Slash:
Rage III (generates Rage, attack speed)
Rapid Attack III (attack speed)
Magnified Area II (area)
Efficiency II (cheaper)

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Shred is your base attack ability from using a Talisman. You use it all the time vs packs and bosses to generate rage (you get 1 rage on hit from the tree), and to make Living Lightning minions for more DPS and Shock, as well as for Exposure (make sure you're dealing SOME Lightning with your attack from any source). This one gets free links as you level!

You swap back to Set #1 after using your warcries by using Shred.

Ideal Links for Shred:
Living Lightning II
Shock
Cold Exposure (Exposure on Crit, and these minions have a good base crit)
Elemental Armament II
Muster

Lineage Options for Shred (non-Lineage):
Esh's Radiance - Makes your Chaos Damage count for Shock as well, as well as just adding more DPS for even more Shock. It's a very good support here!

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Skeletal Warrior (if you have them from a Rattling Sceptre):
Meat Shield
Elemental Army
Last Gasp (Tecrod's Revenge / Brutus' Brain also works)
Minion Mastery

Skeletal Cleric (if you have spare Spirit for 1+):
Meat Shield
Elemental Army
Last Gasp (Tecrod's Revenge / Brutus' Brain also works)
Minion Mastery
Rapid Casting II

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Berserk needs no links, and if you're running it, it simply gives you more Minion Damage and Minion Attack Speed per Rage.

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If you instead have a sceptre with a res aura, you're able to run free auras on it, so add things like Clarity, Upwelling, etc. Those are free on those, and it's a valid option.

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If you choose to do so, you're also able to run something like a Spectre (carious types) with Infernal Legion to help with clear, Gargantuan Wasps are especially good for this. You'll likely want to invest into minion resistances more with jewels or points if you do, so they last longer/forever.

If you do, use:
Infernal Legion III
Feeding Frenzy II
Minion Mastery
Muster
Tecrod's Revenge

Talisman - only needs 1 "real" mod, and that is + to Melee Skills. Farm or buy one with as high a bonus as you can, up to +7. Then use a Greater Essence of Haste to add Attack Speed if it's a Magic Item, adding Attack Speed for QoL, and then Omen of the Liege + Omen of Sinistral Necromancy to get a prefix that provides "Minions deal % increased Damage if you’ve hit Recently". Just those 3 mods are all you really need. If you happen to get accuracy or base crit, that's also useful.

Sceptres - can do a similar thing, as the main thing you care about is also +4 to Minion Skills. If it's Magic, use a Greater Essence of Command to add Minion Damage to it, and then Omen of Sinistral Necromancy to hit some Spirit ideally. If you're buying one directly, Minion Attack Speed is also an incredible mod for you, as is Increased Presence Radius.

Rings can also use Omen of Sinistral Necromancy + Omen of the Liege to desecrate a "Minions deal % increased Damage if you’ve hit Recently" mod on top of an already good ring with resistances and so on. Make sure one of your rings has Flat Lightning for your attacks if your weapon doesn't.

Runes can add 10% of Minion Phys Damage as Lightning per socket on your Talisman, adding 20-30% as Lightning, which should also mostly Shock bosses without needing Living Lightning for it. There's some other fun runes you can farm for / buy, like ones giving Movement Speed in various forms, Curse Immunity, and others, be sure to look on poe.db! If you're using Darkness Enthroned you can have some creative options here.

Heroic Tragedy (in the name of Vorana) - transforms a Keystone into 1% ES per 2 STR. This one is 100% worth a jewel slot, as you have a bunch of STR. Drops from Expedition's boss, and you can also buy it on trade.

Controlled Metamorphosis - can be used to grab Relentless Fallen, Splintering Force and Entropic Incarnation for 1 points each, saving you some travel points.

Various From Nothing Jewels can be used to grab different things, possible worth it!

Prism of Belief can give you +1/2/3 Levels to either Wolfpack or Pounce, as desired/needed.

Ask and I shall answer!

1 - Why do my wolves vanish when I use Set 2 skills?
Make sure you've set your Talisman+Sceptre to work on both sets, clicking the Lock Icon over the set button. Also make sure you have enough attributes on both sets by matching missing stats on the tree.

2 - Why do I sometimes see 2 different sets of wolves?
Pounce Minions, and to an extent Wolfpack Minions, are created on whatever set you were on when making them. If you use Pounce right after Ferocious Roar, you're on Set 2 when placing the Mark, and wolves created will use Set 2 points, not what you want. Make sure to use Shred as your last skill before you use Pounce. If you see this happen, just Shred again and then Pounce/Cross Slash until you only see 1 set of wolves.

3 - Why can't I use Ferocious Roar sometimes?
Echoing Cry says you have to move at least 10m before using it again. Move!

4 - What mods do I want most on Jewels?
Ideally, Faster Start of ES Recharge, % ES, and Minion Resistance. Damage mods for minions are great on top (Minion Damage / Minion Attack Speed), but you already have a lot of those on the tree and gear, especially with Rage buffs.

5 - How are you generating Rage before boss fights?
Roaring Cries (Notable) on set 2, makes it so you can use Ferocious Roar even without enemies around and go to max rage. It makes it very comfortable to use, use it whenever you have low Rage regardless of any enemies around.

6 - Hysseg's Claw for Hyanas, hmm?
Losing a ton of level scaling and % Minion Damage just makes them not worth it. If you have incredible trade league gear and get Pounce to 40 (or close) without the weapon, it becomes BiS potentially. You'd need a +3 Jewel, 21 gem, Gloves with a +1 corrupt, helmet with +1 corrupt...

7 - I set Roar and Lunar to Set 2, what's on Set 1?
Nothing is Set #1 ONLY other than Shred from Set 1, and you use it to swap back after a warcry. You can put Cross-Slash as Set 1 only as well, it doesn't matter much. All non-warcry, non-Shred skills should on active on both sets.

8 - Why am I not seeing Living Lightnings?
You need some Lightning Damage on your Shred. That can be on the Talisman, flat damage on your rings or otherwise.

9 - Why does Pounce sometimes not Mark enemies? Some enemies also don't make Living Lightning?!
Yeah, that seems to be a bug/feature at the moment. Certain enemies, Abyss in particular, don't work with those. Possibly some other enemies that don't give XP. It's where you really wanna make sure your Pounce wolves don't die, or you'll be stuck finishing that encounter with Wolfpack (which is fine, just slower).